


just don't waste my time

by thir13enth



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: College AU, F/M, there's background felannie and you dont have to squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25805944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thir13enth/pseuds/thir13enth
Summary: he's one and a half years late. annette follows up.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 9
Kudos: 33





	just don't waste my time

**Author's Note:**

> this was written in the name of self-indulgence

“Sylvain Gautier!”

Said man stops immediately in his tracks, trying to recognize the shrill voice. This is not the first time that Sylvain has been confronted by an angry woman in the dead ass middle of public. His eyebrows smooth out and he turns, brandishing a boyish grin to the broken heart behind him.

But then he finds himself moving his gaze down, meeting her eyes — a fierce and striking blue — a few inches lower than first expected.

Sylvain doesn’t recognize her at all, which surprises him. As short and superfluous as his relationships often are, he never forgot a face — which can only mean he actually drank a little too much at the bar this past weekend.

Hands out in front of him, he apologizes. “Listen, I’m sorry—”

“You _better_ be!”

He snaps his mouth shut, quickly recalibrating. That wasn’t the level of anger he usually expected for a simple weekend escapade. She looked pretty furious, so he must have done something quite bad. Maybe he did some things he _really_ shouldn’t have? Destroyed her car? Kissed her partner? Proposed? Or maybe she _was_ the bartender that Saturday night and he ran before paying for drinks?

He takes a furtive glance at the slowly gathering audience that’s gathered around them — all acting as if they’re continuing their hallway gossip, trading game cards, or staring at their phone screens, but definitely and not that subtly listening in to what’s erupting before them.

Or rather, _who_ _’s_ erupting before them.

“Okay, look. I have to admit that I actually don’t remember what happened Saturday night, but I promise I wasn’t in my right mind,” he says, as sincerely as he can without knowing exactly what he’s apologizing for.

She scrunches her nose and furrows her eyebrows at him. “ _Saturday night?_ What are you even talking about?”

He snaps his mouth shut again. Okay… maybe she _isn_ _’t_ someone from last weekend. But if not from last weekend… then maybe she’s someone _else_ in his recent history? He racks his head for every other indiscretion he could have possibly made in the past month to recover a response as quick as he can, but she seems to catch onto something else before he gets there.

“Wait! Are you… are you confusing me for a one-night stand?” Her voice pitches up into a half-shriek right at the end of her question, and Sylvain can tell he’s hit a nerve.

“Well, no—”

“You’re just as _terrible_ as they say!”

Sylvain knows when he’s fighting a losing battle. He drops his act, lowering his head. “Okay, what do you want from me? Whatever I did, I want to make it up to you.”

She crosses her arms, giving him an indignant glare.

“I want _The Politics of Pre-Medieval Faerghus_!”

Of the many predicaments Sylvain could have possibly ran through in his mind, _this_ was most certainly not one of them.

“What?” He furrows his eyes. “You want pre-medieval Faerghus?”

“No! The _book_. You have the _book!_ You’re borrowing the _only_ copy from the library!”

“When did I—”

“It’s one and a half years past the due date!”

Ah. Sylvain’s memory starts to stitch together some distant recollections of a persistent and angry librarian calling him.

“I’ve been trying to get that book since the _beginning_ of the semester!” she explains loudly, adding a small jab with her finger to his chest. “I wanted to get a hold of it because I wanted to cite and reference it in my paper that’s due _literally_ at the end of this week. And at first when I found out the _only_ copy of the book was being borrowed, I decided to wait patiently because I thought _maybe_ someone else needed it but then _weeks_ passed, so I decided to go out of my way and inquire at the library to find out what the status was on it — only to find out that you’ve been _hoarding_ it for the last _year and a half!_ _”_

He nervously laughs, shifting his weight. “Hoarding is a strong word to use. I was just keeping at bedside for nighttime reading.” He tilts his head curiously, furrowing his eyebrows. “Wait, how… How did you find me anyway? Do you…” And here, he dramatically pauses, stepping in close and lowering his voice. “Do we _know_ each other?”

“Oh, I—” she sputters. Her cheeks start to turn the color of her red-orange hair.

It’s kinda cute.

She sets her embarrassment aside, shaking her head once and regaining her fury. “No! I don’t know you — I was just asking around and well, _many_ people had _many_ things to say about you so it really wasn’t _that_ hard to find you after that.”

Sylvain grins. “I like your sleuthing skills. How long did it take you—”

“Give it!” she demands, interrupting him and outstretching her hand.

“Give what?” He feels a grin stretching over his lips. “The book?”

“Yes!” She shakes her palm out in front of her again, expecting.

He laughs. “Okay, I know I’ve been holding to that book for a while now but it’s not like I carry it around with me everywhere I go!”

“Well—” But then she snaps her mouth shut, knowing that ultimately, he’s right. Her blush grows a tad stronger, if that was at all possible. She shifts her weight back onto her heels and folds her arms over each other.

He pulls his phone out from his pocket. “How about I get it to you another time?” he suggests. “What’s your number?”

Sylvain can tell she’s trying her best to try to avoid giving him her contact information at all.

“Let’s meet in the library later today at 5pm,” she proposes instead.

“Ah, sorry,” he says, with a sheepish smile. “I already have plans for tonight.” He prompts her with his phone again.

She half-rolls her eyes. She’s not letting up. “Tomorrow noon then.”

He shrugs, tucking his phone back into his pants. “Fine then, tomorrow at noon,” he agrees. “Can I at least have your name?”

She twists her lips, completely distrustful.

He doesn’t break eye contact, giving her the most charming smile he can muster.

She huffs, then looks away. “Annette Dominic,” she finally replies, almost under her breath.

Upon hearing the answer, he stands straight again, greeting her sincerely. “It’s nice to meet you, Annette.”

A sudden light bulb shoots off his head as he says the name out loud. His tongue feels like he’s said this name before but when and where would he have—

Wait. Isn’t that the name of that girl—

Furtively, he looks over her, scanning her head to toe. Small, ginger hair, blue eyes…

She _has_ to be that same Annette Dominic. That same Annette Dominic that was in Ms. Casagranda’s homeroom. That same Annette Dominic that made the top marks in their entire graduating high school class. That same Annette Dominic that Sylvain had never seen, had only heard about in classmate gossip.

That same Annette Dominic that Felix _definitely_ had a crush on — maybe even _still_ has a crush on — but had never done a thing about.

When Sylvain sees an opportunity, he takes it.

And he most certainly sees opportunity right now.

“You know what,” he revises. “Tomorrow noon — how about we make it a date?”

Annette’s eyes widen in confusion, and her beet red blush returns to her cheeks with fury. “What— what do you mean? A date?! No!”

Sylvain shrugs, his rather empty backpack shuffling behind him. “Well, then I don’t know if you’re getting your book.”

He turns, starting to walk away, but Annette quickly skids in from behind him, blocking him from moving any more forward.

“W-Wait!” she stammers. “What do you mean a date? Why?!”

“What do you mean why? Maybe I just want to get to know you,” he replies. “And I think you’re cute.”

 _And so does my friend_ , he thinks.

Annette doesn’t look convinced.

“I mean, you spent all this time tracking me down, asking other people about who I was and where I’d be,” he continues. “I feel like I at least owe you the same dedication.” He smiles. “It’ll be my treat.”

She furrows her eyebrows, looking away at some insignificant spot on the floor. “Where?” she asks, almost under her breath.

“Wherever you like,” he says. “Maybe the Fódlan Tea Collective? I know there’s some good sweets there.”

Her eyes seem to lighten at the mention of sweets. She quickly masks it under a frown. “How long?”

Sylvain’s grin widens. “Well, I don’t want to set a time limit on chatting with—”

“Thirty minutes.”

“Oh, _Annette_ , that’s _barely_ enough time to order and sit down.”

“Exactly,” she replies. “I’m _really_ busy, and I have to get to writing that paper since _you_ _’ve_ made me delayed on it for so long.”

“Then I’ll help you with it!”

She shakes her head firmly. “The only thing I need from you is that book.”

Sylvain chews on his tongue. “One hour,” he negotiates.

“Forty-five minutes.”

“Fine,” he agrees. “Forty-five minutes and your phone number.”

“Absolutely not,” she retorts. “I get my book, and you get a date. That’s it.”

“Alright, alright,” he says, backing down. “Looking forward to our date tomorrow then.”

Her frown doesn’t dissolve. “Yeah. Same,” she replies nevertheless, out of reciprocal politeness.

“I know you’re busy so I’ll make sure it’s not a waste of your time,” he assures her, winking.

Annette rolls her eyes. “Good,” she says. “Because I’m on a tight schedule.”

She then swivels on her heel and starts off down the hall, leaving Sylvain smiling in her dust.

Tight schedule, huh?

Good thing he doesn’t mind a little bit of a pressure.

**Author's Note:**

> i didn’t know what i wanted to do with this when i wrote this and even after writing it, i still don’t know. maybe one day i'll get back to this? who knows lol.
> 
> find me on [twitter](https://www.twitter.com/napsbeforesleep)


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